The invention relates to a recording reproducer, and more particularly to a recording reproducer capable of recording and reproducing a sound of a relatively short duration, which is particularly preferred for use in a learning instrument.
Tape recorders and spiral magnetic sheet recorders are known which may be used as learning instruments. A variety of acoustic signals may be recorded on or reproduced from these tapes and magnetic sheets for the purpose of learning a language, for example. The record has a minimum duration of at least 20 minutes on magnetic tapes and at least 4 minutes on magnetic sheets.
For the beginner who desires to learn a foreign language by utilizing such tape or magnetic sheet, it may be desirable to listen to a simple, basic sentence repeated in the same tone. This can be achieved by repeatedly reproducing the desired portion of the recorded tape or magnetic sheet. However, this entails the necessity of rewinding the recorded tape in a tape recorder, for example. If one desires to listen to the same sentence repeatedly, the tape recorder must be operated as many times as he desires, which is inconvenient. Furthermore, when a plurality of short sentences designated by A, B, C, . . . N, . . . are recorded on a single tape, if the student desires to listen to the sentence N, he must locate the corresponding recorded portion by running the tape, which is again very troublesome. The same problem is encountered with a spiral magnetic sheet recorder.